Chapter 32

The next morning, the café was all too familiar because it was just last night when Samantha was here to meet with Jeremy one last time. Now she was waiting for someone else. Someone whose hopes she kept alive and she felt horrible about it. Taking a deep breath, she gazed out the window overlooking the city of Bangkok and took a sip out of her the mug. “Am I late?” a voice startled her causing her to flinch.

Samantha pouted when she saw Jihoon smirking at her. She will always remember him as the guy who likes to scare her unintentionally. “Not at all,” she answered then motioned for him to sit across from her. “I hope you don’t mind, I kind of ordered something for you. Porridge is the go-to for breakfast. It’s not too bad,” she pointed out.

He chuckled. “Sounds good,” he nodded then looked around at the near empty café. “So… why’d you call me?”

Setting her mug down on the table, she took a deep breath before looking him square in the eyes. “I wanted to apologize about what happened,” she said finally. “I’m sorry for leading you on and then pushing you away. It was really stupid on my part. I didn’t realize I was hurting you and Peniel altogether. I was being selfish with my feelings and I should have known better…” she looked away from him.

He reached over to caress her hand. “I forgive you,” he finally said. “I admit, this is kind of new to me. You were like a breath of fresh air. You’re not like the others,” he pointed out.

“I’ve heard that one before,” she chuckled.

“So what’s next?” he asked curiously. “Should I get my hopes up?” he had a hopeful glint in his eyes.

After much thought she finally spoke up, “You should focus on your activities right now. I don’t want you to waste your time on me, Jihoon,” she sighed.

“Oh,” he looked down away from her, saddened. “I understand…”

“I’m so sorry, Jihoon,” she said sincerely. “We’re already good friends and I really don’t want to ruin what we have. You know, your friendship is important to me.”

He nodded in understanding. “Just as long as you’re happy then I’m okay,” he finally said. “I want you to know that I’ll always be here if you need a friend.”

“That’s so sweet of you,” she smiled from ear-to-ear. “I really appreciate it.”

Soon, their food arrived and they both dug into their porridge. Samantha gave him a hopeful look as he took his first bite. “What do you think?” she asked.

After taking his first bite, his eyes gave her the answer and he nodded in approval. “You’re right, this is good,” he beamed.

“I told you,” she chuckled. “You know, I think you and Ailee have terrific chemistry…” she said beating around the bush.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “What are you trying to imply?”

Samantha shrugged and tried to appear nonchalant. “Oh nothing just thought I’d tell you…”

He scoffed. “I’ve just been rejected by you and yet you’re trying to play cupid for me and your best friend,” he shook his head smiling. “Give the man some time first!” he exclaimed dramatically.

“Well, I just wanted to put it out there!” she defended herself. “You both deserve to be happy too…” she looked away pouting.

“Um, thanks for looking out for me,” he replied sheepishly then continued eating.

There was one more thing Samantha had always wanted to try when she got here. Bangkok was called the Venice of the East for a reason and she decided she wanted to take a boat ride with Peniel that night. So waiting by the docks, she watched the boats move in front of her. It was a beautiful sight to see. Thinking back to her beginnings coming abroad, Samantha thought about the things she did that she never thought would be possible. She had come with an initial goal in mind. What she thought would be temporary turned into a home and she developed a meaningful bond along the way. Samantha smiled to herself as she looked into the night sky.

“What are you smiling about?” Peniel’s voice rang out from beside her.

“Oh nothing,” she said beaming at him. “You came!”

“What? Did you think I wasn’t going to come?” he asked coolly. “I had other plans with the guys but felt bad for leaving you out so as a last resort I’ve decided to come.” He said smirking at her.

Samantha rolled her eyes and playfully shoved him. “I could’ve asked someone else to come with me. Like,” she thought for a moment, “Minhyuk or some of the other guys instead. They would’ve come in a heartbeat.”

He sneered and faked a laugh. “Haha, funny,” he said finally. “So why’d you ask me to come here?” he jumped to the chase.

“I was wondering if you would like to ride a boat with me,” she finally said looking away from him.

“What a random request,” he commented. “First, you wanted to ride in a carriage and now you want to ride a boat. What’s next? Horseback riding?” he said with a hint of amusement in his tone.

She had a murderous glint in her eyes this time which caused him to step back. “I knew I should’ve asked someone else…” she grumbled.

“I’m just kidding!” he laughed. His smile was always so adorable, she thought so she decided to let his teasing slide for once.

When the boat finally arrived, the driver took Samantha’s hand and helped her onto the boat. Peniel followed after. The young idol proceeded to sit really close to her. As the boat moved, Peniel reached for Samantha’s hand and intertwined their fingers together. Samantha gleamed at him. “I’m really glad you’re here,” she said finally.

“I am too,” he smiled.

With a deep breath, Samantha looked up at Peniel with glistening eyes. “I wanted to apologize for hurting you,” she started to say. “I didn’t realize it at the time. I’m sorry for pushing you away. I want you to know that I only did that because I was afraid of opening my heart again. I’m also scared of your fans too because they’re kind of scary,” she added prompting Peniel to chuckle softly. “It is slowly starting to hit me that the speech you made to Jeremy was your message to me and I was stupid for not realizing it all along. You are good for me, Peniel. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me…” she said looking away from him blinking back the tears.

He caressed her hands in his, held it up to his face and kissed the back of her hand. “I forgive you,” he said looking into her eyes. “There’s no need for an apology, Sam. I should be apologizing for being cold to you. I’m sorry, okay?”

She smiled behind her tears. “I deserved it,” she said sniffling.

Peniel brushed a tear away from her face. Holding her face in his hand, he looked down at her lips then leaned in to finally kiss her. When he broke the kiss, he looked into her eyes. “I love you, Sam,” he said softly then kissed her again. The kiss was deepened as they both moved closer to each other.

However, their moment was interrupted by the sound of whistling and cheering. Samantha and Peniel took a moment to finally register what was going on. BTOB had decided to rent out their own boat as they rode beside the two. “Woot woot!” Eunkwang exclaimed.

“Finally, Peniel!” Hyunsik exclaimed.

“It’s about time you told her how you feel,” Changseob added.

“This is just like those romance movies,” Minhyuk chimed in. “But it’s even more awesome in real life.”

“I’m totally taping this for Dongwoon and Ailee,” Sungjae announced holding up his phone to record.

“Come on! Don’t stop!” Ilhoon whined to Samantha and Peniel. “Kiss already!”

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss…” the rest of BTOB urged on.

An annoyed look formed on Peniel’s face, Samantha chuckled as she listened to the others unaware of Peniel moving away from her. She was taken by surprise when she heard a splash. “Go! Go! Go!” Peniel urged the boat driver in Thai and the driver nodded and rowed off.

When she turned her head, she saw the other boat turned over. “Peniel! You’re dead when you get back!” Ilhoon exclaimed angrily.

“My phone!” Sungjae whined.

Eunkwang in turn started splashing the others, then an all-out splash fight came about. Peniel and Samantha chuckled upon watching them. “Aren’t you afraid of going back?” she asked curiously.

He scoffed. “They deserved it disturbing us,” he answered. Smirking, he finally said, “Besides, I have a sassy girl like you to scare them off.”

Samantha glared at him. “Do you want to join them?” she asked. “Because that could be—“

He pulled her in for another long kiss to shut her up. Samantha had no other choice but to give in as they rode together into the night.

The end.

A/N: Now we wrap things up! However, there is one more chapter after this so it's not over yet! XD Enjoy!